Sex and Harvard. The combination raises a lot of eyebrows, unless, of course, you're talking about Science B-29, "Human Behavioral Biology."

Harvard is notorious for its stressed-out, driven students and the consequently quiet social scene. But is Harvard's reputation as a haven for the celibate justified?

According to a U.S. News and World Report survey conducted in 1984, 56 percent of Harvard students have had sex. While this statistic is on the lower end of the collegiate spectrum, it does seem to undermine Harvard's chaste image.

And not much seems to have changed during the past 12 years. Many students say they are seeking--and finding--sexual activity on campus.

Oh, The Places We Go!

It seems that most sexual activity runs two courses at Harvard--the random hook-up and the sustained romance. Many students say the absence of a casual dating scene at Harvard leads to a sense of the all-or-nothing sexual commitment, and division between the physical and the emotional.

"Sex is completely separate from the dating scene," one Adams House senior says. "You hook up randomly with people at parties and then you go out on a date with someone you hooked up with at a party to get to know them personally."

Members of the gay and lesbian community say their dating scene is quite different from that of heterosexuals.

"The pool [of gay students] is very small and it is harder to tell if someone is gay or not so you can't just pick them up at a party," says one sophomore. "The random hook-up thing is not as prevalent in a community where [everyone] knows each other."

But almost all students say they find sexual partners at extracurricular activities or the after-hours social events sponsored by those activities.

"There is a lot of fooling around amongst friends and I think that is a good thing," says Rachel B. Tiven '96-97 of Lowell House. "This is especially true for theater people."

"We spend hours and hours every day for weeks together and it tends to be an emotionally intimate workplace," she says. "It is not odd or unusual that this leads to fooling around."

One first-year, who has worked as a set designer, highly recommends theater groups as places to meet people.

"If you need some action, being a techie is the way to go," the first-year says.

Some students say that government simulations, particularly Model United Nations and Model Congress, provide atmospheres conducive to sexual relationships.

"My friends who joined Model U.N., HACIA Democracy and Model Congress had a great time on the groups' trips," one Leverett sophomore says. "They said it was an excellent opportunity to hook up with other staffers."